Ankara escalates provocations

Turkey suspends the bilateral agreement with Greece on the readmission of refugees, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has announced. This is the result of Greece’s refusal to extradite the eight Turkish army officers who came to Greece after the failed coup and were released a few days ago by ruling of the Greek courts, as the 18-month period of their pre-trial detention had passed. The Turkish Minister has clarified that the bilateral agreement with Greece on the readmission of refugees has frozen for the time being, but the agreement signed with the European Union still applies.

Diplomatic sources have said that this statement of Çavuşoğlu was unfortunate, stressing, “What Mr. Çavuşoğlu has announced has already been the case since 2017; in any case, the function of the rule of law cannot be an alibi for some to violate international law.”